GRS Super Joystick | Ikari Warriors Limited Edition (US ver)

If you cant get MAME running and have never done any wiring jobs AND have no patience, then yeah you might have a problem. Its actually easy to set up, works fine except a little over sensitivity rotation. I collect arcades, 58 total with around 200 boards and have the original Ikari and Time Soldiers controllers and boards. Cant wait to see the main difference. This controller works just fine. Follow his tutorials on YouTube and you will do put it together. I actually have mine setup in an AVS steel fight stick. Just enough clearance.

Ok so I need to edit my review. I stripped this all down and basically started again. I was fortunate enough to have two of these due to an issue with the first kit and me basically destroying it trying to make adjustments to get it to work. So I bought another.

I honestly don’t know what caused the first one to be so erratic but I think it’s down to the signal wire and the sensor that seems to be the weakest link. The software config program wasn’t even detecting the rotation on the first joystick but X and Y axis along with the buttons were working fine. It was just the damn rotation that never seemed to work.

Anyway, I have reinstalled the firmware on this one now and it all seems to be working. If using SNK collection on PC then make sure you are in purple mode which apparently is the SNK mode.

I’d love to know what the issue was but I guess I’ll never know. I would recommend though starting from scratch with the build and maybe replace the sensor from the offset particularly if you’re having rotation issues.

Look, I’m not one for saying something is poor when it isn’t but this joystick, and this is the gods honest truth just doesn’t work no matter what you do. I’ve waited since 1988 to use a rotary joystick again and to live that nostalgic thrill when I first played GW for the first time in the arcades. When I learned of the GRS SJ I was beside myself and splashed out without doing much research at all.

My first impression seemed like all my prayers had been answered but I was left sorely disappointed. I’ll tell you why…..

The build and presentation is actually really nice for the price. I honest can’t complain although I did have issues with the signal wire becoming loose from the shaft but that’s a different story and a costly mistake although in my defense this thing is difficult from the moment you open the box and I promise you…….it will take you to the edge of insanity and back and it will still not be done with you!

Ostensibly the five star ratings are really encouraging and enough, for me at least, to take the plunge but alas, I don’t truly believe looking back that they’re genuine. In all honestly they simply can’t be.

You see, this product simply does not deliver. I haven’t tried it with mame yet and tbh I don’t want to risk anymore of my sanity in doing so.

I’m using the SNK collection on my PC Windows 10 but it’s certainly not an ‘out of the box’ set up as purported. X and Y axis and diagonal work fine if you remap but the rotation simply doesn’t work regardless of what you do. This was the whole reason I bought it. It’s like the SJ has a mind of its own.

The SJ is a frustrating piece of kit. It truly is. I have no idea how but it did rotate very briefly after I unplugged and then reinserted the USB and pressed every single button combination I could thing with the mode and way selectors out of sheer frustration and desperation. It stopped working though a minute or so later.

I would have paid double the price had the SJ come assembled (which I didn’t have a problem with funnily enough and quite enjoyed that part) but as it is it is not fit for purpose.

The SJ is marketed at the enthusiast but it is flawed so I’m not sure how others are getting this to work with such ease according to some of the reviews. Like I said I’m undecided regarding the genuity of those testimonies.

Anyway, I’m not sure whether to reach out to TS about this as to be honest I just don’t think I’ve got any more hours to spend on this thing. Life really is too short to waste as many hours as I’ve done on this. I could understand it if I was battling with mame as it would just be a configuration issue but the SJ has deeper woes than what mame could ever throw at it.

So, in summary….a lovely idea in principle, great build quality and presentation for the price but when all said and done, it’s a dud. The main selling point which is the rotation just doesn’t work and if it does then it’s nigh on impossible to get it to work.

Save your money I’m sorry to say and go and live your life!

I purchased two of these on Amazon and received them today. I wired up the first one fairly easily. not my first arcade wiring. However, the instructions didn't tell you which wire was which lol. I was forced to pause the instruction video and look at the colors and hope I got the right ones since there's a few doubles........ This was the beginning of my woes. I plugged it into my already perfect Retropi build and proceeded to set up the controller. And this is where things get stupid. The instructions on how to do this are only for Mame2010. Which Wasn't on my build and neither are the roms for Mame2010. So in order to use this stick, I have to completely redo my retro pi and build it around mame 2010. Which means I have to locate the mame2010 romset and download all 30 some odd gigs of it. This is absolutely ridiculous. How you fkd this one up I don't know lol. No part of locating the 2010 mame romset building a new pi image and setting up the controls is "plug and play" all these bogus reviews on here are just insulting. The box is cool, the hardware seems good, wiring it was mostly strait forward. but its been 6 hours since i started this and I haven't been able to play anything!!! because both of my retro pi setups, the vertical and the horizontal build "that now is gone and replaced with a full romset that includes everything including non vertical games!!!! for me to delete one by one again over a period of a fkn week, are compatible with this controller. not to mention you have to use your PC to use the software..... this process is unbelievably annoying. and on a side note WHY DIDNT YOU MAKE THE 2 PLAYER BOX ART LOOK LIKE THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CONTROL BOARD INSTEAD OF ANOTHER LEFT SIDE!!! Unreal. 16 gigs of vertical games in the tubes because only 2010 mame instructions. fan fkn tastic. thank you very much for providing this opportunity but fk you very much for completely botching the delivery. You couldn't have someone do the research on how to set this up in the most recent romsets at least? start new and go backwards? nooooo it works with 2010 call it good slap a price tag on it!!!

I purchased 2 of these, thinking the wonder of being able to play SNK games like Ikari Warriors and the like. I have 3 emulators including the Build-A-Cade, PC with MAME and a RecalBox on Rasberry Pi 5. I have been able to get basic joystick and button functionality but cannot for the life of me get the rotation function to work. I don't have Steam so 40th Anniversary SNK, if it actually works there, great! But does not behoove me as can't benefit from that.

I have looked at various docs for Mame 2010 to Mame 2015 configuration options and for the life of me cannot figure it out.

It would be so much easier if like X-Arcade a configuration file would be provided by the Thunderstick folk to get this controller working as one would expect it to vs. muddling through blogs trying figure out how to get it to work on your designated system or emulator of choice.